1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a photographic image processing system which reads the images on an exposed film with a scanner, performs various processes including trimming and composition, and then prints the images, and more particularly to a photographic image processing system which facilitates the producing of photographs so trimmed, composed and density-adjusted as the photographer desires.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various techniques have been proposed which read the images with a scanner from a negative film on which photography is finished in the laboratory, convert them into digital image data, then subject the data to image processes including trimming, composition, density adjustment, etc. according to the photographer's intentions, and thereafter print photographs.
For example, in a technique relating to "a trimming photographic printer" disclosed in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-153228, the trimming information recorded on a recording medium such as a photographic film is read, and according to the trimming information, the printing system is set in a trimming printing state. At this time, the trimming state is displayed on a monitor, and it is judged whether the trimming is acceptable or not.
In the printing method disclosed in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-153229, the quality of subject-illuminating light is estimated from information on the date and time at which the picture was taken, the amount of light, and whether or not a strobe was used, and on the basis of the estimated light quality, the printing exposure is determined, followed by the printing of the film image on photographic paper.
With the trimming photographic printer disclosed in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-153228, however, it is very tedious to write trimming information at the time of photography. Furthermore, since this method requires a large system, it is impossible to make the camera more compact and lighter.
In the printing method disclosed in Japanese Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-153229, the recording unit is large and the parameters used to determine the quality of light are complex, which does not necessarily assure high estimation accuracy. Even if the light quality is estimated accurately, the method cannot keep up with the individual's liking that differs subtly from person to person.